4/30/09

With all the bad news each day, inside and outside the walls of my world, I'm looking for moments of pure silliness. I give you such a moment. There's no monetary value to this shot. It's not a work of art. What it is is another example of my time-traveling-celebrity theory. Once again a celebrity has been able to cross back in time and got caught doing it. We mere mortals have never been given the keys to this form of travel so until we are I think we need to call out examples when stars are caught. I give you Will Ferrell in drag, time-traveling-celebrity.

I will now go back to my regularly scheduled daily program of work and angst.

4/26/09

I love looking through my collection of vernacular photos. I always find something I'd forgotten about. This is an example of what I mean.

What strikes me about this photo, and it only just did, is that this woman with the dogs looks so much like another photo I posted here months ago of a little girl with a dog. I'm 99.9% sure it's not the same woman because of where each of the photos were bought, but there's enough similarity to allow me to imagine they're the same. Funny how I never noticed it before. The woman looks like the girl. The dog on the right looks similar in both shots.

Now because these two photos are in my collection there is the chance that if everything gets jumbled together someone in the future might actually believe they are the same person. Of course, just by posting them together on the net they will be linked for as long as the files survive.

4/24/09

I passed over this photo a few times at the flea market. I'd look at it and laugh, but when I had a stack of photos and the price started to get more than what was in my change purse I'd always put this one back. Apparently nobody ever wanted it because I found it again.

I'd like to know the story behind this. Was there a sixth member of this drinking club taking the photo wearing one of these handmade shirts? Was it another guy and if so what did his shirt say? All of the woman are in identical "Fuller Tugs" shirts. The fellow on the left, I can't figure out what his shirt says. The one on the right "Grin and Beer It." Personally I've never understood people's obsession with beer, but for some it's ummmmmm...an all consuming interest.

Click on image to see it larger.

Whenever I look at this vernacular photo I'm reminded of this great old song by Roger Miller. Once I get it in my head it just keeps looping. It's sad he's gone. Take a listen and let it loop in your head over and over and...pour yourself a cool one. Here's to Miller time.

Addendum: Thanks to Robert at Live from the Surface of the Moon for filling me in as to what the fellow's shirt says: Everclear. I have been warned to stay away from this stuff. Advice taken...unless I need paint thinner.

4/20/09

I know a friend in Colorado has several feet of snow around her home, but where I live it reached 100 degrees today. Too too hot for April. Miserable already with summer still to come. But...it's a dry heat. Or did I mean dry heave?

It would be nice to be sitting in a pool, but not in one of these suits. My best friend and I are convinced these are some sort of nightmare swimwear. She says "comedic swim team." She could be right. I try to imagine how dreadful this must have been on a hot day sopping wet. Completely insane. And then when you really look at it the one woman is wearing leather gloves and one fellow a bow tie. Don't get me started on the leather boots. A little too formal for my taste on a hot summer...uhhhh...spring day. Happy to experience this through vernacular photography and not through my own reality.

Then again, when I first found this photo I looked at the guys and thought chain gang. Stylish chain gang.

4/18/09

It'll be 10 years this Christmas since my mother died. It was an ugly death from ovarian cancer and I'll never get over it. I hate that I can't hear her voice anymore or quickly see her face in my mind's eye. But I have photos to remind me, help to fill in the pieces, jog the memories.

We take photos of family members for granted. They get tossed around, stuck in odd places, forgotten. I try to imagine what it was like for people when photos for the common folk became affordable. When an image could be saved, maybe only one photo, that took them through their life. One photo, one scrap of paper, that was cherished because it reminded them of someone they loved who they would never see again.

We're so inundated with images today and people's egos have grown to where they expect to see themselves everywhere 24/7. It's almost too much. The quiet of a single image seems to be lost. There's always more to consume. Do people slow down enough to look at images of family and friends before quickly moving on to the next digital image? The same amount of care doesn't need to be taken because the images cost nothing. They're bits and bites and can be easily erased.

I thought of this because I saw an ad in the newspaper for Mother's Day. I don't even know when it is. It's a manufactured "holiday" used to sell stuff. I remember as a child driving through Baltimore on Mother's Day and seeing young men standing on the stoops of their homes wearing carnations in their lapels and my mother told me that the white meant their mother had died, the pink or red that their mother was still alive. I never again thought of carnations the same way. I always remember those young men with their single white carnation. That has always been my image of Mother's Day.

I'm assuming this photo is of a mother and child, but I have no proof. It was purchased at an estate sale a few years ago along with some wedding photos. It's badly worn, but the image is still strong and meaningful. Someone kept it for years and then it was lost to a stranger, me. I posted another photo from this same estate sale in an earlier post of another little girl standing on a chair. It could be the same little girl, I just don't know. It's sad to think that this image became unwanted and just something to sell. At some point it was viewed by someone who loved and cherished these people. For now it's in my care. Their history reminding me of my history.

4/17/09

Fashion. When it gets in the way of comfort I hate it. I appreciate what fashion designers do, but I want it kept as far away from me as possible. I simply have no interest other than to look at it from a distance. I demand comfort. I had enough of the silliness as a child when my mother would dress me in itchy woolens or petticoats that itched and made my dress bounce up when I sat down. Of the constant feeling that a stain on something was going to cause grief. Or as an adult wearing shoes that had me tottering until my ankle turned. Which brings me to this child.

I love the photo, but I feel for that child. All she wanted to do was to go outside and play with her toys, but she had to be covered from head to toe. I remember my mom talking about the woolen stockings she had to wear in the 1920s. She hated them. Imagine this poor little thing bulked up with a tied on bonnet, dress with petticoat, woolen stockings, and boots. Just to go outside. She's cute as can be, but the physical restrictions the clothes caused had to be tiring. Kids really don't realize how easy they have it today. I didn't realize how easy I had it.

And I love collecting photos of children with toys. Simple practical toys. Toys that spark a child's imagination. Toys that last. Toys without any corporate marketing. Simple joy of good toys.

4/16/09

It is definitely spring and I believe it's going to be an early and very hot summer. So I'm thinking of summer and warm summer evenings and drives along country roads with the windows open in the car.

For a moment I step back in time with this photo. It's a bit unusual in that the photo is glued directly to glass, it's on the back of the glass. On the back of the photo it's a bit of a mess with torn paper or possible tape. So this was mostly likely mounted onto something else, but I have no idea what it might have been. I've never seen anything like this. If anyone has any idea why this was manufactured this way please let me know.

It's a pleasant photograph that has a hand tinted look. Three colors besides the black. Green, very faint blue, and yellowish beige. The glass/photo measures 9" x 3.5". I have no idea where this is or when it was taken. It's all a lovely mystery. I'd love to be walking on this road under the shady branches perhaps heading to a Sunday afternoon picnic. Then again, maybe these people in the buggies won't let me pass. Maybe it's not a pleasant country road. Maybe danger lurks ahead.

4/15/09

I really have no idea what these fellows are doing. I'm thinking it might have something to do with a golf tournament, but then again it's April 15th so I've decided they're the IRS hard at work checking over what we've sent in. A moment to give you pause knowing that all of that personal information about you might end up in jokes this evening at a bar. So Happy Tax Day now get your head down and get back to work. They're making alterations as we speak.

4/11/09

I remember making Easter bonnets in school out of paper plates, construction paper, and ribbon. Oh I thought they were grand.

The last time I actually had a new hat for Easter I was probably around 6 or 7. I'd have a new pretty pastel hat that clamped onto my head and hurt. They were always too tight. And a pretty little pastel dress with petticoats that itched. And weather permitting we'd walk to church, the brick church with the white steeple. And let's not forget the black patent shoes. Shiny shoes I could see myself in.

For some, Easter is still a day to dress up and go out. For me it's all about the chocolate.

I have no idea why this woman had her picture taken in this bonnet and coat, but I've made her my Easter parade candidate. Did she have a sweetheart who cherished this real photo postcard, keeping it on his chest of drawers? Did he call on her weekly bringing flowers hoping to see her smile?

I do know one thing...is it me or does she seem to be swimming in that whole outfit?

Addendum: I had forgotten to mention that my best friend and I believe this is another example of "time traveling celebrities." Actress Allison Janney long before her portrayal of CJ on The West Wing.

4/10/09

It's always exciting to be at an estate sale, flea market, or antique store and find a wonderful photo, or at least something that makes me smile or snicker. But when I find things in my own filing cabinet that come as a surprise it's even better.

I was going through my filing cabinet looking for the book for my vacuum cleaner. Discovered too many files full of old papers I no longer need that will be tossed allowing me to free up some space. In the back of one file I found a piece of cardboard. I was just about to dump the full contents of this file into the trash without sorting through it until I saw the cardboard. I turned it over and found this photo. I'd long ago forgotten I had this. I must have bought it in the early to mid-70s. I was thrilled to see it again.

On the back it says "Pushie Estate Berkeley" so I'm assuming whoever I purchased it from bought it at an estate sale. I believe I bought it at an antique store in Port Costa, California. The photographer was "Bushnell Fotografer California" located in San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose. I know nothing about this photographer other than the following ad I found online here within a yearbook.

4/8/09

When I was in high school I decided for my senior year I wanted to be on the yearbook staff. The summer between my junior and senior year I had to take a "class" at a local photography studio along with some other yearbook staff and one of the things we were taught was how to pose a group of people. I failed that part of the class because I didn't pose my classmates in the traditional tight pyramid fashion. I posed casual. I pretty much let them stand or sit as they wanted. It freaked out the "teacher" and he told me all the reasons why it was wrong. Every so often I come across the shots I took and I have to say I like them. The people look comfortable and real.

So the reason I'm writing any of this is because of the photo below. Even I have to wonder what the photographer was thinking. This is perhaps one of the strangest groupings I've ever seen. I like it, but I'm not sure what the photographer was going for. There's a certain pyramid fashion but.... Perhaps this is actually how these people sat around in the living room which had to make conversation with grandpa difficult. I'd love to have been there when this was taken so I could fill in the oddly shaped pieces.

4/2/09

One summer my parents sent me to Bible School in Maryland. It didn't go over well with me. They never sent me back. We did not get a class photo taken, but I'm sure if we had I would have had one of the same expressions that the little girls below have. For me each day was torture. I didn't know the children and didn't want to be there. I'd patiently wait by the fence for my mother to come and get me. Years later she admitted they'd sent me so that she'd have a few hours in the day to get things done. Bible School was a babysitter with pictures of Jesus to color with crayolas. That's about all I remember. Oh, and it was hot. Maryland summer hot. I have no idea where this photo was taken.

Click on image to see it larger.

I do believe this is one of the finest examples of "if looks could kill."

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Tattered and Lost: Buckaroos and Buckarettes is a collection of vintage snapshots for those who remember riding the range when they were kids. These adventures usually consisted of sitting in front of a black and white television or running around the neighborhood with our shiny six-guns strapped to our sides. Our imaginations created entire worlds that never existed. We sang along with our heroes, convinced that with a song in our heart and a six-gun on our hip we could vanquish evil. This book is dedicated to all the other buckaroos and buckarettes who rode their imaginations into the sunset while humming Happy Trails. Buy it at Amazon.

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Collecting vintage photographs starts out innocent enough with a few snapshots here and there, but at some point it becomes a bit more obsessive and you find yourself longing for the next image that makes you laugh or ponder the irrefutable confusion of being human. This book, Tattered and Lost: Cakes, Picnics, and Watermelon, the fourth in a series, shows the quirky world of sharing food from the 1890s to the 1970s in the United States. Sit back and enjoy watching people cut cakes (some people do it with such style!), go on picnics without your relatives, and watch people eat watermelon. Yes, eat watermelon. An odd category for sure, but one sure to make you smile. Buy it at Amazon.

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Tattered and Lost: Vernacular Photographs, is volume 1 in my self-published books showing photos from my collection. Photographs play off each other on facing pages asking the viewer to come to their own conclusion as to what they are looking at. Included is a photo of the Pennsylvania Railroad S1 steam locomotive, designed by Raymond Loewy, on display at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. And one of the few known copies of a photo taken by Rudolph D’Heureuse in 1863 proving there were indeed camels used by the U. S. Cavalry is included. So take a step back in time and visit with some folks who long ago smiled and said “cheese” never knowing how long those smiles would last. Buy it at Amazon.

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What is Tattered and Lost?

Tattered and Lost is about some of the found and/or vernacular photography in my collection.

Unless you're an incredibly organized person you probably have a few stray photos tucked away that you've forgotten about. No matter how many family members or friends say they love you, sooner or later, a photo of you is going to slip through the cracks and end up in the hands of someone who knows nothing about you. Such are the photos at this site.

THE PHOTOS

Photographs of the ordinary by the ordinary.
All photos are from my private collection. They may NOT be used in any manner without my permission. I retain all copyrights for everything published on this site unless specified as belonging to someone else.